Cibo Matto Is Still Strange After All These Years

Cibo Matto is scheduled to perform on Friday, February 21, at Crecent Ballroom.

Admit it: You've always longed for a music video that, in sum, features shots of bananas, pineapples, and other fruit; an explosively gaudy color scheme; several bizarre green-screen backgrounds seen at a rapid-fire pace; a rap interlude; a saxophone solo; lyrics about French bread and oysters; and the phrase "motherfucking nature!" repeatedly being delivered as if it were the most badass slogan ever invented.

Well, with the clip for "MFN" -- an infectiously ferocious synth-pop number off the brand-new Hotel Valentine -- Cibo Matto has made those dreams real, all while providing sociocultural commentary.

"The song is about the part of nature that's motherfucking," multi-instrumentalist Yuka Honda says. "Nature's not just only this beautiful thing — beautiful sunset and blue sky. There's all these parts that come with nature. Also, there's this notion that we like to think humans are not nature or a lot of things we do are not nature, but we seem to be a part of nature. Plastic seems to come from Earth, so we just wanted to talk about this very nasty part of nature."

Truth be told, it's difficult to fathom exactly what Honda is talking about and the crux of the "MFN" video, but understanding the point is not entirely the point of enjoying Cibo Matto.

Since forming in 1994, the New York City-based duo of Japan natives Honda and vocalist Miho Hatori have made sure to strictly adhere to the principle of unpredictability and deliver their music with such earnest conviction that the listener will be compelled to go along for the ride even with little clue about what the hell is going on.